Shriners Hospital in Cincinnati may move operations out of 30-bed site in Corryville

Prerna Gandhi of Rothak, India came to Cincinnati for treatment at Shriner's Hospital for Children after being attacked by acid. She became an inspiration to Graci Doll of Reading, and the other students at Mt. Notre Dame, but didn't understand why.
The Enquirer/Carrie Cochran

Buy Photo

The Shriners Hospital for Children on Burnet Avenue in Cincinnati has a murky future, as its philanthropic parent, Shriners International, considers how best to deal with a decreasing demand for their medical specialty: burn care.(Photo: The Enquirer/Anne Saker)Buy Photo

This year, Shriners Hospital for Children celebrated its golden anniversary of treating children with burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft palates. But the facility that proclaims itself a place where “Love Comes to the Rescue” may not mark another year in its Corryville home.

Local hospital officials declined to discuss the future of the 30-bed hospital, one of 22 in the national Shriners network. But the push to lower-cost outpatient facilities is forcing Shriners to re-evaluate how to deliver care, national Shriners spokesman Mel Bower said In a statement Thursday. Bower did not have any details on what happens next.

"Because these discussions are governed by nondisclosure agreements, we are not able to offer more details at this time, but Shriners Hospitals for Children is extremely optimistic that we are on a path toward a vibrant and sustained future as we continue to seek the best possible way to serve the pediatric specialty needs of the region."

It's not clear which health system is talking with Shriners about a change in the operation. This week, officials with UC Health, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, TriHealth, Mercy Health and the Christ Hospital Health Network all said they were not in talks with Shriners.

The hospital, originally called the Shriners Burn Institute, is an anchor of the city's medical multiplex in Corryville. Cincinnati Children's is due north on Burnet Avenue. To the west are the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, the UC College of Medicine and the Cincinnati VA Medical Center.

The Shriners Hospital network is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and is the major philanthropy for Shriners International, the 146-year-old national men’s fellowship. To display membership, a Shriner wears a red fez, often beaded or tasseled to mark rank in the organization. Shriners make up the boards of directors and trustees at the Shriners Hospital.

SUPPORT JOURNALISM: Subscribe today to our coverage. You’ll be glad you did.

On June 16, the Cincinnati hospital marked its 50th anniversary with a grand patient reunion at the Burnet Avenue facility. In its early days, the hospital focused entirely on burn care but expanded over the years to treat cleft lip and palate, skin and wound conditions and spinal cord injuries. Officials said about 30,000 patients had received treatment in the facility's half-century.

But in the past decade, the Shriners Hospital network has struggled as changes came to the financing of medicine, and as fewer patients suffered the major burns that the hospitals specialized in treating. In 2009, the Shriners Hospital system nearly shut down entirely. Some moved to outpatient care. The Cincinnati hospital survived that cutback.

Earlier this year, Bower told Becker's Hospital Review, an authoritative industry publication, that Shriners intends to consolidate burn care across its network. The Becker's story mentioned the Shriners Hospitals in Boston and Cincinnati as "targeted for cuts in the consolidation plan."

The Shriners have prided themselves on raising enough money to provide care for free, but in recent years, Shriners Hospitals have accepted private insurance to cover costs.

In addition to the other changes in financing, burns are decreasing. Thanks to fire-retardant clothing, the widespread adoption of smoke alarms and other advances in fire protection, fewer children are suffering catastrophic burns – although burns still kill children in poorer countries in large numbers. The patient census at the Cincinnati hospital has been dropping for years, and the entire second floor of 15 beds often is empty.

The Enquirer has written frequently about the care provided at Shriners. In 2015, readers met Prerna Gandhi, a young woman from Rohtak, India, who came to the Shriners Hospital in Cincinnati for treatment of burns she suffered when someone threw acid in her face. Kilee Brookbank of Georgetown has written a book, “Beautiful Scars: A Life Redeemed” about her 2014 burn and treatment at the Corryville hospital.